CALDERWOOD quit De Graafschap after just 29 days in charge but says he has received support from Dutch legends such as Marc Overmars, Jaap Stam, Clarence Seedorf and Ronald De Boer.

JIMMY CALDERWOOD can walk into a who’s who of Dutch football and be welcomed with open arms.

Yet none of them can understand why he’s become a ‘who’s that?’ in the Scottish game.

The 58-year-old arrived back in this country from Holland last week after an incredible, abortive 29-day stint in charge of De Graafschap.

It was a bitter experience which saw him quit the second-tier club in protest at being stitched up by their board, forced to do their dirty work and sack a coach they wanted rid of, and having his two top scorers sold on deadline day.

But it will still never be enough to dampen his desire to feel the grass under his feet on the training ground. And his belief in his own ability won’t leave him as long as he has guys such as Marc Overmars, Jaap Stam, Clarence Seedorf and Ronald De Boer offering support.

Calderwood insisted: “I’ll never be at the point where I think I’m done. I love it too much.

“But it was so disappointing the way it ended up – again. It was a great club and I loved being back on the training ground.

“A group of old punters used to come and watch every day and the banter was brilliant.

“I was only working for a bonus – one for getting into the play-offs, a bigger one if we got up.

“It actually ended up costing me money to manage them – I think I spent a total of eight days in the house over there.

“I had faith in my own ability and thought the team looked a right good bet.

“Plus it gets your name back in the game. Four or five years ago I was the top or second on every shortlist, now I’d be 25th.”

Despite a CV of unstinting progress, top-six finishes and regular European football with Dunfermline and Aberdeen, it’s five years since Calderwood last worked a full season in football.

He has been called in for rescue stints at Kilmarnock, Ross County, Go Ahead Eagles and De Graafschap. But his reputation now carries a lot more weight in his adopted land, where he first earned his reputation as a player and a coach, than it does here.

Calderwood said: “You do sometimes think, ‘What have I done wrong?’ I went up to Ajax and met a few of the guys, the likes of Ronald, Jaap, Marc, and they said, ‘What the f*** is going on that you’re not working in Scotland?’

“It’s good to know there’s respect there, that you can be welcomed into company like that.”

That’s not something he will be able to say about the De Graafschap boardroom.

Calderwood said: “They’ve been on TV saying I was lying about what happened.

“They tried to get me to do their dirty work for them. They wanted rid of one of their coaches, Richard Roelofsen, who was given a huge contract but got them relegated.

“Throw that in with the fact they sold Piotr Parzyszek to Charlton and Anco Jansen to Roda – 30 goals gone. And I never heard a word about the targets I gave them.

“They all ended up trying to blame me and each other for it.

“They came to me asking if I’d say I was sick and wouldn’t attend the game towards the end.

“And I just thought, ‘You know what? F*** this.’ I’ve been in this game long enough to know they were going to stitch me up.”

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